Transcript

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>> Face veils don't fit without open society. The common consensus among Angela Merkel's conservative politicians in Germany, now calling for a partial ban on women wearing burkas and knee caps.>> To show one's face is crucial for our living together, for our solidarity. Therefore we call for everyone to show their faces.

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This applies to kindergartens, schools and universities. To teachers as well as pupils and students. This applies to courts, the judges, the jury, and witnesses.>> This is one of the more controversial proposals presented by Merkel's CDU and her CSU allies. They say it's necessary to improve security along with increased surveillance and police presence.

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But Reuters correspondent Michelle Martin in Berlin said they stopped short of calling a full ban.>> The media has said that you have some concerns about whether a full ban on the burka would be compatible with Germany's constitution that these kind of veils were not desirable in Germany but it was not possible to ban everything that was not wanted.

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He suggested that it might be up to Germany's 16 regions to come up with a ban on the burka.>> More than one million mostly Muslim refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan have arrived in Germany in the last year, drawing rising public concern after a series of violent attacks across Germany and the rest of Europe.

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The proposals can only become law if they're adopted by the government. The CDU are trying to compete with the rising popularity for the anti-immigrant AFD party that's forecast to do well at upcoming regional elections. But the debate has divided Merkel's coalition. With some ministers citing an increasingly xenophobic political atmosphere in Germany.